In general, as of late...do you think apple people don't know what they are selling anymore? i get this feeling that these engineers will put whatever stuff inside the computers and tablets and sell it without knowing what they are selling...
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New 2014 Mac Mini Has Soldered RAM, Not User Replaceable
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I think you're right. We might be waiting a long while then for a quad-core Mac mini because the U-series Broadwell chips are also all dual-core.
Apple is asking $300 for 16GB RAM which is available for roughly $100, Which means $200 for soldering service. I never new it was that costly to solder 
In all I don't mine if the RAMs are soldered, i mean how many times do you remove and install RAM in your system, other than for upgrading so if you just max out the RAM when you order then you don't have to tinker for the whole life of the system.
My only concern is that they are asking too much for it.
In all I don't mine if the RAMs are soldered, i mean how many times do you remove and install RAM in your system, other than for upgrading so if you just max out the RAM when you order then you don't have to tinker for the whole life of the system.
My only concern is that they are asking too much for it.
Apple spends millions developing products. Why should it produce a product that helps third-party suppliers to make money selling parts that Apple can already supply?
It isn't Apple's job to put money in the pockets of companies such as Crucial. If you want a product with a certain spec, buy the right product in the first place. If you can't afford Apple's price, buy something you can afford. Apple isn't a charity. If you don't like the specs on offer, choose another device or another company.
Tim made it clear with one of the presentation graphics that Apple's lineup is Watch, iPhone, iPad, MacBook, iMac. The desktop market isn't critical to Apple. Tim wants to concentrate on mobile computing because that's the future for Apple and for IT.
People don't complain because they can't upgrade the internals in their TVs, cookers, PVRs, satellite boxes, toasters, etc. Why do people expect to upgrade their computers? They might have been able to upgrade older computers in the past, but we no longer live in the past.
It isn't Apple's job to put money in the pockets of companies such as Crucial. If you want a product with a certain spec, buy the right product in the first place. If you can't afford Apple's price, buy something you can afford. Apple isn't a charity. If you don't like the specs on offer, choose another device or another company.
Tim made it clear with one of the presentation graphics that Apple's lineup is Watch, iPhone, iPad, MacBook, iMac. The desktop market isn't critical to Apple. Tim wants to concentrate on mobile computing because that's the future for Apple and for IT.
People don't complain because they can't upgrade the internals in their TVs, cookers, PVRs, satellite boxes, toasters, etc. Why do people expect to upgrade their computers? They might have been able to upgrade older computers in the past, but we no longer live in the past.
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I forgot to add that the CPU's are all mobile CPU's, not desktop variants, hence the limitations on cores and power and heat.
Oh well, in that case it was always supported, since Hyper threading was reintroduced with the "i" naming scheme and Nehelem.
For the fanboys defending the 1.4 GHz Mac Mini
For the fanboys defending the 1.4 GHz Mac Mini, you say that "it's good enough for the typical user" because "a typical user mostly just browses the web", "plays a few games", and "runs modest applications".
Well, that's what a typical user does. That covers nearly all students, all seniors, and many non professionals.
The problem here is that for the price of ONE low end Mac Mini, a typical user could buy THREE Chromeboxes and a Chromebox will fulfill a typical user's needs just as well as does the low end Mac Mini.
http://www.amazon.com/Asus-CHROMEBOX-M004U-ASUS-Desktop/dp/B00IT1WJZQ
And if that typical user needs a nice 21.5" IPS LED display, for a third LESS than the low end Mac Mini they can get an LG Chromebase with a keyboard and mouse in thrown in at no extra cost.
http://www.amazon.com/LG-ChromeBase-22CV241-W-22-Inch-Desktop/dp/B00JR625WO/
For the fanboys defending the 1.4 GHz Mac Mini, you say that "it's good enough for the typical user" because "a typical user mostly just browses the web", "plays a few games", and "runs modest applications".
Well, that's what a typical user does. That covers nearly all students, all seniors, and many non professionals.
The problem here is that for the price of ONE low end Mac Mini, a typical user could buy THREE Chromeboxes and a Chromebox will fulfill a typical user's needs just as well as does the low end Mac Mini.
http://www.amazon.com/Asus-CHROMEBOX-M004U-ASUS-Desktop/dp/B00IT1WJZQ
And if that typical user needs a nice 21.5" IPS LED display, for a third LESS than the low end Mac Mini they can get an LG Chromebase with a keyboard and mouse in thrown in at no extra cost.
http://www.amazon.com/LG-ChromeBase-22CV241-W-22-Inch-Desktop/dp/B00JR625WO/
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If Apple didn't charge such outrageous prices for their RAM upgrades then I'm sure a lot more people would agree with you.
I will continue to live in the past for as long as possible. So will millions of other computer users.
upgrade puzzle
it is an interesting puzzle Apple left me. I have three choices to replace my late 2009 Mini, which is still running Snow Leopard.
1) Upgrade to the new mini, which won't be as much of an upgrade as I intended even at the high end. The 8 GB and the fusion drive are as I intended, but the dual core is an issue given all the reports I've heard about Mavericks running poorly on dual core machines.
2) Sit tight until March, and see if Apple gets it's head out, and puts a quad-core Broadwell in. The Mini is often updated in March, so this isn't a hopeless gamble.
3) Throw in the towel and get a Dell. The Optiplex 9020 is small form factor will certainly work for what I need and comes with Windows 7. If you keep Information (non)Services away from it, Win 7 is actually pretty decent.
The high end optiplex has a quad core I5, a discrete video card, 8 GB, and optical drive (which I still use quite a lot) and many more USB ports. But it needs a hard drive upgrade out of the box. So net cost is about the same as the mini's high end.
Much of the hype about Yosemite concerns connecting to IOS devices, and since I don't own any, that selling point vanishes.
it is an interesting puzzle Apple left me. I have three choices to replace my late 2009 Mini, which is still running Snow Leopard.
1) Upgrade to the new mini, which won't be as much of an upgrade as I intended even at the high end. The 8 GB and the fusion drive are as I intended, but the dual core is an issue given all the reports I've heard about Mavericks running poorly on dual core machines.
2) Sit tight until March, and see if Apple gets it's head out, and puts a quad-core Broadwell in. The Mini is often updated in March, so this isn't a hopeless gamble.
3) Throw in the towel and get a Dell. The Optiplex 9020 is small form factor will certainly work for what I need and comes with Windows 7. If you keep Information (non)Services away from it, Win 7 is actually pretty decent.
The high end optiplex has a quad core I5, a discrete video card, 8 GB, and optical drive (which I still use quite a lot) and many more USB ports. But it needs a hard drive upgrade out of the box. So net cost is about the same as the mini's high end.
Much of the hype about Yosemite concerns connecting to IOS devices, and since I don't own any, that selling point vanishes.
Much of it does come from Apple which based on anonymous reporting that a large percentage of users allow their computers to send back to Apple, can see that most do NOT upgrade their RAM or hard drives. Data from other computer companies such as Dell and HP show the same. The typical buyer doesn't upgrade their machine. They buy it as they want it and leave things be.
General consumer are the largest group of buyers. These people use their computers for surfing the web, email, social media, iTunes, and maybe a little light word processing and that's about it. The people the Mac mini is targeted at.
Yes there are plenty of people upgrading their RAM and you see that on Amazon. But keep in mind that there are hundreds of millions of Macs out there. The reviews and buyers of that RAM make up only a very small percentage of the total ownership.
We need to remember that everyone on this site doesn't represent the typical Apple buyer. Typical buyers don't spend their time on forums discussing their computers/phones. They just use them and think nothing of it.
They solder in the RAM, so you are locked into buying expensive Apple RAM, instead of cheap after-market RAM.
Everybody knows RAM is RAM, so this a lame attempt to cash in more money.
I would just buy the last Mac Mini version with upgradeable RAM.
Are you certain this is the exact model CPU used in the new mini? If that's the case then it is the same low wattage U-series used in the MBA's correct, and isn't even a desktop class CPU, right?
Couldn't agree more. The gap between the mini and the nMP is ridiculous and not one that the iMac can fill for many of us.
I've already dropped the rMBP for a Dell M4800 because of the lack of flexibility in the hardware - I know, it weighs a ton and looks like something from the 80's but I need 32GB of RAM and more than one SSD. The matt screen and ethernet port also help.
Yes Apple has a great OS and ecosystem, but I can fully understand why their hardware is often referred to as 'iToys'. They've made more than enough money, how about making something that we actually want rather than something you think we want. Just for once. Maybe have a separate devision for the professional market, i.e. those of us working in technical IT roles, that would also cover the enthusiast market too? Don't label these machines as 'Pro' machines though as your 'Pro' line-up is anything but.
As things stand today I'll be using Apple for home and Windows for work, simply because I have more flexible hardware choices for Windows laptops.
And that, my fellow Apple enthusiasts, is what happens when you start a race to the bottom.... I guess the el cheapo new mini caters to the new macrumors crowd here who believes in the disposable mentality: pump and dump 1 year old perfectly good iPhones, iPad airs etc for the latest and greatest. And now mini's have joined this list. There's a small group of oldsters here who've had mini's since the dark old days of buying a core solo model and buying a core 2 duo chip on ebay for $50 and popping it in for 2x the performance... Later on flashing the bios to allow a 4gb ram upgrade (when the machine originally came with the 'good enough' 512mb!).
AFAIK, since Apple went Intel, the mini has never had a desktop class Intel chip, always mobile....
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I have a big hunch that the RAM is in fact not soldered, but that the bottom access plate is now sealed in some way, either glued or proprietary screws.
As others have pointed out the language used on Apple's own website is very different from the models where the RAM is actually soldered on.
It will probably void the warranty to open the bottom access plate, thus making the entire machine "not user upgradable."
They aren't outrageous when compared to other makers. Additionally we need to factor in other things such as installation (it may only take you a couple minutes to upgrade your own RAM but think about how much time it takes when they have to take machines pumped out but the million in China and make changes to them before shipping), add in that they warranty it and support it also (something they don't need to do when you buy your own). On top of that you have to throw some profit for them.
Most consumers don't want to deal with upgrading things themselves. Look at cars. Most will pay the dealership to add any extras they want rather than doing it themselves. To most, it's worth the added expense to have someone else do it for them. For most, the thought of opening their computer and the risk they'll mess something up (even if it is as simple as snapping in a couple extra RAM chips) is more than they're willing to take on and they'll gladly pay to have it done for them. Why do you think we have countless car washes and oil change places?
Or 4) get a 2012 Mac Mini Quad Core 2,6 GHz with 16 GB RAM and a 1 TB Fusion Drive online. That's what I did today since the new models don't look great at all. It's more powerful and cheaper than the "high-end" new model with the same amount of RAM and the Fusion Drive.
A Honda Civic will still get you from point A to point B just like that much more expensive BMW will. People don't buy only whatever is the cheapest to fulfill their needs. If that was the case, Apple wouldn't be the #1 selling laptop to college students in this country as a cheap Chromebook would easily fulfill the needs of most of them. Instead they buy what they want just as we do with TVs, cars, bikes, houses, food, and everything else we buy and consume.
Are you sure it's a soldered RAM? Apple made no mention of an onboard memory RAM in this Mac Mini.
Apple stated:
Brian Stucki stated
This sounds more like the RAM is not soldered but it was buried deep inside the Mac Mini just like the traditional 21.5 iMac 2013. More like you have take out every component in order to get to the RAM. To me, that is hard but not impossible to upgrade. I need to see a full teardown to truly confirm this soldered thing.
Come on, charging 2-3 times as much for exactly the same RAM (and even hanging on to the standard RAM so making even more profit) has always been a rip-off. I've had sales staff in my local store telling me to buy it from Crucial because that's what they do with their Macs.
No, it sounds like the RAM is soldered. Couldn't be an clearer than:
"Many have speculated that the Mac mini also includes soldered RAM, which has now been confirmed by Macminicolo's Brian Stucki."
For most consumers, it's worth it. If people actually stopped buying the Apple upgrades they would have dropped their price years ago. Instead, most buyers gladly buy the upgrade from Apple and never have to deal with the hassle of buying it from someone else, installing it and dealing with warranty issues later on.
I've happily upgrade my Apples since the late '80s myself but those of us willing to do so are few compared to the general buyer who just wants it to be ready to go out of the box. Just like people will pay for the V6 engine option in their car over the 4-cylinder rather than adding various aftermarket parts to make the same power for less on their own.